"I am from Kolkata", and the obvious response from the people are "Maachher jhol, Rasogolla, Park Street and Howrah Bridge". But dear people, Kolkata has more to it.
Yes, when one enters the city through Howrah the first thing he/she gets to see is the famous Howrah Bridge but remembering only that humongous engineering marvel is like looking only at the cover of a novel and saying you have read it. Rasogolla is again a sweet delicacy of Kolkata but again not the only one. Park Street, thanks to Xmas celebrations and the footfall of several foreigners, is that one place which is there first on the list of any first time visitor to the city. But I wonder how many have actually tried to feel Kolkata or even if they have, how many have actually articulated them without talking highly about the cliched pointers like Howrah Bridge, Rasagolla, Park Street etc.?
Every city has it's own feel. So does Kolkata and it does not need the help of the cliches to be felt. To get the actual feel of the city one should enter the extremely narrow lanes of North Kolkata in which it is a challenge for two people to walk side by side. Kolkata can be felt in a ride of a hand pulled rickshaw. Kolkata can be felt in a tea stall where several gossip only about football and politics. Kolkata can be felt in Nandan and Academy of Fine Arts where 'aantels' (pseudo intellectuals) roam around unshaved, clad in kurtas with a 'jhola' (a cloth bag). Kolkata can be felt in a crowded private bus where a passenger is drenched more due to somebody else's sweat. Sounds disgusting? Well it won't once you get in tune with Kolkata.
The people of Kolkata often abuse the condition of the city where the streets get repaired only before the elections, where the cost of living is much higher than one's salary, where job vacancies are vanishing by the day, yet, they are so attached to the city that it is hard for them to leave the city and go to some other place to find a living. No matter how troublesome it is to survive in the city a Kolkatan will find it very hard to leave the city and it is because they feel for the city.
The air around Kolkata has a special feel. The dilly dally attitude of the people, the pointless arguments about politics, the snarling traffic jams, the over crowded buses etc. are all but Kolkata. We might, from a distance, consider it to be a very underdeveloped backward city but being in Kolkata, one can feel what makes Kolkata. This is Kolkata, the very original picture of the city. So the next time you visit Kolkata keep aside the 'to-do' list and just roam around the streets to get the feel of the city.
Yes the people of Kolkata are different, but that's what they are. Their being different is what makes the city a very special place to live but the difference is not directly proportional to being bad. Kolkata has it's own mood, it's own culture and thus Kolkata is Kolkata. Sorry but there is no match for the city!
Yes, when one enters the city through Howrah the first thing he/she gets to see is the famous Howrah Bridge but remembering only that humongous engineering marvel is like looking only at the cover of a novel and saying you have read it. Rasogolla is again a sweet delicacy of Kolkata but again not the only one. Park Street, thanks to Xmas celebrations and the footfall of several foreigners, is that one place which is there first on the list of any first time visitor to the city. But I wonder how many have actually tried to feel Kolkata or even if they have, how many have actually articulated them without talking highly about the cliched pointers like Howrah Bridge, Rasagolla, Park Street etc.?
Every city has it's own feel. So does Kolkata and it does not need the help of the cliches to be felt. To get the actual feel of the city one should enter the extremely narrow lanes of North Kolkata in which it is a challenge for two people to walk side by side. Kolkata can be felt in a ride of a hand pulled rickshaw. Kolkata can be felt in a tea stall where several gossip only about football and politics. Kolkata can be felt in Nandan and Academy of Fine Arts where 'aantels' (pseudo intellectuals) roam around unshaved, clad in kurtas with a 'jhola' (a cloth bag). Kolkata can be felt in a crowded private bus where a passenger is drenched more due to somebody else's sweat. Sounds disgusting? Well it won't once you get in tune with Kolkata.
The people of Kolkata often abuse the condition of the city where the streets get repaired only before the elections, where the cost of living is much higher than one's salary, where job vacancies are vanishing by the day, yet, they are so attached to the city that it is hard for them to leave the city and go to some other place to find a living. No matter how troublesome it is to survive in the city a Kolkatan will find it very hard to leave the city and it is because they feel for the city.
The air around Kolkata has a special feel. The dilly dally attitude of the people, the pointless arguments about politics, the snarling traffic jams, the over crowded buses etc. are all but Kolkata. We might, from a distance, consider it to be a very underdeveloped backward city but being in Kolkata, one can feel what makes Kolkata. This is Kolkata, the very original picture of the city. So the next time you visit Kolkata keep aside the 'to-do' list and just roam around the streets to get the feel of the city.
Yes the people of Kolkata are different, but that's what they are. Their being different is what makes the city a very special place to live but the difference is not directly proportional to being bad. Kolkata has it's own mood, it's own culture and thus Kolkata is Kolkata. Sorry but there is no match for the city!
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